The present invention relates generally to mail processing equipment and more specifically to mail processing information systems.
Automated mail processing systems are known. However, presently-available fully-automated mail processing systems are limited in their ability to process all types of mail a recipient might receive. Thus, mail drops are often segmented during processing into groups having common attributes with respect to processing.
Because of the sheer volume of mail processed by some mail processors on behalf of multiple clients, process segments often become separated during processing, thus risking that a complete mail drop will not be fully processed at roughly the same time, an important criteria in many circumstances. Further, client expectations or service level agreements are not necessarily the same for all clients and are not inherent to the process. As a result, performance criteria for a particular mail drop is not usually evident to those processing the mail drop or may become lost as segments of the mail drop travel through the process. Thus, systems and methods are needed to improve the ability to fully process mail drops that may be segmented during processing.